Dry-cleaning system



May, 1928.

J. 'i'. FEN'roN DRY CLEANING s`YsTEM Original Filed 0st. ll, 1921 3Sheets-Sheet 1 May 8, 1928. 1,669,235

J. T. FENTON DRY CLEANING SYSTEM Original Filed Oct. 1l, 1921 5Sheets-Sheet 2 MPE Gam/sr Ol/ff-Hl TER-646 J. T. FENTON DRY CLEANINGSYSTEM May 8,v 1928.

Original Filed Oct.. 1l, 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 @Www Patented May 8,1928.

PATIENT OFFICE..

JAIFS '.ll. FENTO, 0F #ALT un UITY, UTAH.

nar-emunio srsrim.

i Application fled October 11, 1981, serial No. 507,017. RenewedNovember 19, 1927.

The present invention has for its object, economizing in dryv cleaningof textile materials, such as soiled garments and thev like, whilemaking the c eaning process more complete and more effective, and willsub-` stantiall do awa with the necessity of distilling t. e -dry ceaning fluid. The invention involves both the process and the apparatusfor accomplishing the stated results.

In accordance with the present invention, the textile material, such assoiled clothing, is put into a washer referably a rotary drum'washer ofany of t e well known ty es which are on the market. Into this w er isrun a cleaning fluid,l such as gasoline, naphtha or other lighthydrocarbon solvent, or mixtures of such materials with com onentscapable of reducing the inilammability thereby, such as carbontetrachloride, chlorinated ethanes, chloroformor other like materials.Preferably a continuous stream of the cleansing fluid runs into thewasher, while a .corresponding stream Hows out of the washer, to apurifying system. It is advisable to so regulate the inlet and outflowof cleansin liquid as to. maintain a suiiiciently uni orm quantit ofcleansing fluid in the washer. The 'rty cleaning fluid drawn out ispreferably run rst through a storage tank for equahzin the flow oftheliquid through the system. rom the storage tank the'soiled liquid is runinto 'an agitator tank in which it is avitated with a solid materialhaving good adsorbing properties, for example, ullers earth. The li uidafter being thoroughly agitated with t eadsorbing material is thenseparated from the adsorbing material and from the adsorbed impuri# tieswhich are taken up by the adsorbing material. The puried liquid is -thenrun back into the washer, making the processv cyclic. It is notnecessaryin ordinary washing operations tc go to the expense of distilling thewashing liquid, which operation entails considerable expense for bothapparatus, heat and attendance. 'It is, of course,

- understood that additional quantities of the cleansing iiuid may beintroduced from time to time, to make up for small mechanical losses-andlosses by evaporation. Y

ln the accompanying drawings, I have shown more orless'diagrammatically, apparatus within the scope of the presentinvention, for carrying out the process above.

brietly described. ln said drawings Fig. 1

is a side view, partly in section, of apparatus which is suitable forusevin the process. Fig. 2 shows a preferred. formv ofextractor Abasketand a canvas filter for the same.

distributor shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 6 shows 'one form of attachment ofriiiles to the inner tlter bag. Fig. 7 Vshows one construction of thecycloid distributor illustrated in Fig. 5. Fig. 8 shows a preferredconstruction of an automatic regulated feed for the clarifying material,to the agitator tank and Fig. 9

shows a detail of construction inconnection i with the said feedmechanism, Fi 9 being a view of the parts in question loo from a planeindicated by the lines 9-9, looking in the direction of the arrows.

In'carrying out the process of the present invention, the soiledclothing or other material to be cleaned is put into the washer 20 whichin the construction shown has an inner perforated drum 21, mounted .u onan axle 22,A rotated by suitable means, or example, the pulley 23.Gasoline or other cleaning liquid is fed to the washer, preferably in acontinuous stream, by pipe 24, provided with a valve 25. The rotation ofthe drum 21 causes the vclothing to be tumbled about withy i asolineabsorbs the gasoline, whereby the and dissolves the greases, oi s andother materials soluble in gasoline, and also on account of this action,the solid dirt is so loosened that it readily goes into suspension inthe gasoline.` The liquid is drawn out from this tank, preferably in acontinuous manner, through pipe 26, provided with a valve 27, leading toa' pump'28. The said nsv anA

pipe is falso prvided with 'a b -pass 29 car- Atank 40. The liquidleaves the tank 40 by pipe 41 provided with a valve 42 and with va floatregulated valve 43.V The liquid flows through the pipe 41 into the spout44 of the hopper 45. The spout 44 discharges into the upper part of theagitator. From the receptacle 46 is fed a solid adsorbing materialthrough the spout 47 into the hopper 45, this being fed for example bythe worm 49 operated by a pulley 50. The mixture of gasoline and solidin the agitator tank is agitated by means of an impeller 51 preferablylocated in the lower end of the central compartment 52. This centralcompartment or tube is held in place by the braces 53, which braces donot completely fill the cross section of the agitator tank, outside ofthe central pipe or casing. This central pipe is preferably alsoprovided with perforations as shown at 54 near its lower end, in orderthat some liquid can be drawn in through these perforations and forceddownwardly by the screw propeller 51, in order to give an additionalamount of circulation and agitation in the bottom of the receptacle, andalso in order to provide adequate circulation in the agitator tank,should the level of liquid therein fall below-the top of 52.-

The liquid level of the agitator tank is preferably maintainedsubstantially uniform, by means of the float 57 and its connections 58,59, 60 and 61, controlling the liquid valve 43. The propeller 51 isrotated at a suitable rate of speed by means of the shaft 62 on whichsaid propeller is mounted, this shaft being driven from a pulley 63.

The liquid carrying the adsorbing material such as fullers earth,together with whatever the same has taken up in the agitator tank is fedthrough pipe controlled by valve 71 into a 'centrifugal separator 72.Here all solid material is separated from the gasoline, the latter owinout through pipe 74 past check valve 75 an valve 25, through pipe 24into the vwasher 20.

The gasoline as above stated removes the greases and oils and also thesolid dirt from the clot-h or other material being washed in the washer20. When this liquid is agitated with fullers earth or like adsorbingmaterial in the agitator tank, the fullers earth will adsorb and take upboth the solid impurities and the oils and greases from the gasoline,leaving the said gasoline completely purified, and when the solidmaterial has been separated from the gasoline in the separator 72 thesaid gasoline is entirely clean and may be then run back into the washer2O.v The purification of the gasoline in this manner is so complete thatI have been able to wash white clothing in gasoline which has previouslybeen used for washing dirty overalls and other very dirty clothing,which.

gasoline has been passed through the purifying system, but whichgasoline has not been redistilled.

It is to be understood that the complete purification of the gasolinewith fullers earth or like adsorbing material will require a certainminimum quantity of the fullers earth per gallon of gasoline, dependingupon the amount and character of impurities in the said gasoline. Theclarifying material, such as fullers earth, is accordingly fed to theagitator tank preferably in a quantity regulated by the amount ofgasoline being fed to the agitator tank, also the proportion of thismaterial should bear a certain relation to the character and amount ofthe impurities. Accordingly the device as illus- -trated in Figs. 8 and9 is preferably provided.

In this apparatus, power is supplied by means of the pulley 81 to ashaft.80 carrying a crank disc 82, to which is attached a crank 83, bymeans of asuitable' stud 84. This stud 84 may be placed in any one of anumber of holes 85 located at different distances from the center of thecrank disc. The other end of the crank 83 is connected to a variablestroke link 86. The variable stroke link is connected at a movable pointin its length to the arm 87, the end of which is pivotally connected `tothe rock arm 88, the upper end of which is rigidly secured to Shaft 89.This shaft 89, which is suitably supported in rigid bearings (not shown)is provided at its other end with a bell crank lever 90, the outer endof which is in turn. connected With a flink 91, tothe end of anotherbell crank lever 92, carried upon the rotary shaft 58 above referred to,which in turn is rigidly connected to the rod carrying the float 57 inthe float chamber `Which is attached to the upper portion of theagitator tank. Accordingly rotation of the shaft 58 will move the arm 87either to the right or left hand Fig. 9, thereby either lengthening orshortening the stroke of the r.link 94 the upper part of which carries apavvlv 95 engaging `with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 96. The deviceis accordingly variable in its action on the ratchet wheel 96, dependingupon the distance from the center of the crank disc, at which the lowerend of 83 is connected, and also upon the position of the fioat 57. Inthis manner the amountof clarifying material introduced to the hopper 45at each revolution of the crank disc 82 can be adjusted to meet theexisting requirements, adjustment of 84 on 82 being manually made,depending upon the amount of dirt in the gasoline being treated,`

and the adjustment by the position of 87 relative to 86 being automaticdepending upon the position of the float 57 In Figs. 2 to 7 inclusive, Ihave illustrati ed details of the preferred construction of thecentrifugal filter. The extractor basket 100 isof the ordinary Wellknown type, being perforated with numerous smal'l holes 101. Within thisdisc is placed a canvas filter bag 102. This filter bag is preferablysli htly smaller than the interiordimensions o the nie-nner, forexample, as shown in Fig. 6. v

ln this modification a core .'lO isA placed aga-inst the inner surfaceof the lt'er bag, and a canvas strip 107 is placed around the same beingstitched to the canvas at 108 and Mill,- Between 103 'and 102 is o spacein which may be locatedv a filter felt of any de sired construction. Yln order to impart a rotery motion to the liquid running into therapidly rotating bi1/siret there is preferably.

provided ey cycloid distributor 112 shown in Figs. 3 and 5. This cycloiddistributor may be conveniently made by laying a piece of rope ll uponthe bottom of the inner lter loa-g end placing e. strip of canvas 114eupon the seine which canvas is stitched to the bottorn o-i the innerfilter bag as shown at 116.

This distributor is preferably made in the forni of a cross with the,arms somewhat curved, as shown in Fig. 5, the rotation of the iilterbeing in the direction of the arrow in Fig., o. lt is to be understoodthat a. suitable cover (not shownl will be provided on the top oit thecentrifugal ilter, in order to prevent eve. v eration.

dll

l have rel'erred above to the use of iullers earth vas the adsorbingmaterial or clarifying material. The invention is not restricted to theuse of this specific material, but numerous other materials acting in asimilar manner may be employed, for example, pul-A verized talc ordiatomaceous earth. It will be understood that the material teken upfrom the clothingy being cleaned includes a. number of constituents.Reference has already been made to oils and greases. ln addition tothese, the gasoline will taire up numerous substances which ossessodors, such as the dried perspiration, also dirt most oi which will befound to exist in a substantially colloidal state in the cleaningliquid. -'l`he edsorbing material acts also as a coa-guleting agentcoaguieting the colloidal dirt, producing relatively large masses whichwill be precipitated in part and will in part loe adsorbed by thecoagulating agent.

'lihe use ci the coagulating adsorbing agent is entirely essential inthe production vce of satisfactory results. If this is omitted, greasesand "tats and oils taken up by the gasoline will simply be carried backinto the washing machine, and while a :smallquantity of the dirt couldbe separated by simple filtration, if the agitator tank and clarifyingmaterial supplied, were omitted, the result would not be satisfactory,since the odors and greases would not be suiciently removed from theclothing. I have shown from the lower end of the agitator tank as beinghemispheric in sha e.

that this shape gives the moet eiiiactive circulation in the lower partof said tank. The agitator tube in 52 is best supported by p etes 53which are set at an angle of from to 60, in order to give a rotarymotion to the liquid passing upwardly around the agitator tube. Theplate 53 on the left may slope backwards and the plate 58 may 'slopeforwards. As a rnodied form of constructiinfi, instead of a sino'lepropeller 51located in the lower part o the agitator tube 52, I mayemploy two propellers one just below the top of the agitator tube inaddition to the one just within the bottom of the egitator tube which isillustrated in the drawing These may be arranged to cause the liquids totravel in opposite directions, the one in the bottoni drawing the liquiddownwardly and the one in the top drawing the liquid upwardly, outrofthe agitator tube, and a" number of holes can be `provided in theagitator tube about midway of this height, so that the liquid in theupper part of the agite-tor tank will travel downwardly outside of thetube, through the holes above referred to and then upwardly inside ofthe tube, while the liquid in the lower part of the tank will travel inthe direction shown by the arrows in Fig l.

The drawing illustrates a centrifugal lilter as being the preferred formof filter for use in the system. However, l call attention to the factthat other forms of filters can be employed, although less`advantageously, thus' an ordinary ilter press or a bag filter can beemployed.

For supplying gasoline to the system, pipes may be provided as shown at125 for introducing gasoline which needs to be purilill l have in theabove description referred;

particularly to the use of gasoline as a cleaning fluid. lt is, ofcourse, to be understood that various other cleaning iiuids may belikewise employed. For example, naphtha, benzine, liquid chlorides ofcarbon, or mixtures osuch materials.

Iii-'the preferred operation, the liquid in passing the gasoline fromthe major part of the agitator tank is preferably maintained a littleabove the top of the agitator tube 52.

In the above descri tion, I have referred to continuous cyclic ow.Continuous flow is in many cases preferred, but in some instances it isadvisable to employ an intermittent fiow, that is to say, to run intothe Washer, a given amount of gasoline, or the like, then rotate thewasher for a while, then draw otl' all the gasoline from the washer,then run in another charge of gasoline. This mode possesses someadvantages, in that it is not necessary (especially when washing verydirty greas`y articles, e. g. overalls) to run such a large amount ofwashing fluid through thewasher and purifying s stem.v In this event, acyclic-intermittent ow is produced. The hand valves will be used in thissystem of working.

In some cases it is advisable to employ, along with the gasoline,dry-cleaners soap. This does not necessitate any changes in the system,as already described.

,In some instances the use of the adsorbing material may be omitted fora time, by

pipe 41 directly to the pipe 7() forming the inlet of the centrifugalseparator. Thus, when articles are being washed which do not containlarge quantities of greases, it may bc advisable to pass the asolinedirect from the tank 40 through the pipe 132 provided with valve 133, tothe centrifugal separator, after the first portion of the gasoline,containing the the grease has been through the agitator tank.

In some instances the operation of the agitator tank, and if desired,also the centrifugal filter may be intermittent, that is to saythe totalsupply of gasoline may be run through the agitator tank and centrifugalseparator, into a suitable storage tank, from which the said gasoline issubsequently drawn to the washer. A

The treatment of the dirty gasoline with the adsorbing material andsubsequent filtration not only purifi'es the gasoline, but also acts torevivify the grease solubility of the gasoline or other washing media.It is of course to be understood that the total amount of gasoline usedcan be drawn olf from the system after being subjected many times to theadsorbing material, and redistilled, for the purpose of removing anyconstituents which have been taken up with the lgasoline which will notbe removed by the adsorbing material.

The bags used in the centrifugal filter, both at 102 and 103 arepreferably made interchangeable,4 so that the same can be taken out ofthe centrifugal basket when desired'and clean bags substituted therefor.

I claim:

1. In dry-cleaning, the herein described process which comprisessubjecting soiled Lacasse textile material containing greasy or oilymaterial to the action of a volatile organic solvent which issubstantially non-miscible with water; drawing ot the solvent withaccumulated impurities; agitating the said solvent carrying impuritiestogether with a solid material insoluble therein, which materialpossesses good adsorbing properties; separating the solid adsorbingmaterial with accumulated impurities from the said solvent byliltration; and returning the solvent free from said adsorbing materialand adsorbed impurities in a substantially continuous manner to .thefirst-mentioned step of the process, until the said textile material hasbeencleaned to the desired extent.

2. In dry cleaning, the herein described process which comprisessubjecting soiled textile material containing greasy or oily -materialto the action of a volatile organic solvent which is substantiallynon-miscible with water; drawing off the solvent with accumulatedimpurities; agitating the said solvent carrying impurities together withfullers earth; separating the fullers earth with adsorbed impuritiesfrom said solvent y by centrifugal filtration; and returning the solventfree from said adsorbing material and adsorbed impurities in asubstantially continuous manner to the first-mentioned step of theprocess, Auntil the said textile material has been cleaned to thedesired extent.

3. A system` of apparatus comprising a. washing machine, an agitator,.means for feeding solid material thereto, a separator, means fordrawing olf liquid from the washing machine, means liquid to theagitator, means for varying the amount of liquid and the amount of solidmaterial fed to the agitator according to the amount of the mixturetherein, means for passing liquid from the agitator to the separator,and means'` for passing liquid from the separator back to the washingmachine. f

4. A system of apparatus comprising 'a Washing machine, an agitator,means for passing liquid from the washing machine to the agitator, meansfor feeding solid material thereto, means for regulating the amount ofliquid and solid material fed to the agitator according to the amount ofthe mixture therein, a centrifugal filter, means for passing' themixture from the agitator to the centrifugal filter, and means forpassing the liquid from said filter back to the washing machine.

5. A system of apparatus comprising a washing machine, an agitator,means for feeding solid material thereto, a separator; means for drawingoif liquid from said washing machine, means for feeding the said liquidto said agitator, means for passing liquid from said agitator to saidseparator for feeding the v,said

and means for passing liquid from said separator back to said washingmachine'. v

6. A system of apparatus comprising a washing/machine, an agitator,means for feeding solid material thereto, a-centrifugal filter; meansfor passing liquid from said Washing machine to said agitator, means forpassing liquid from saidl agitator to said centrifugal filter, and meansfor passing liquid from said filter back to said Washing machine. 7. Asystem of dry cleaning apparatus comprising a washing machine, means formaintaining a substantially uniform depth of cleaning liquid'in theWashing machine, an agitator, means for passing liquid con tainingimpurities from the Washing machine to the agitator, means for feeding asolid material to the agitator, means 4for regulating the amount ofliquid and solid material fed to the agitator, a centrifugal filter,means for feeding the mixture of solid material and liquid containingimpurities from the agitator to the centrifugal filter, and means forfeeding the liquid separated from the solid material and impurities fromthe filter into the washing machine. f I

8. A system -of apparatus for clarifying gasoline containing impuritieswhich comprises an agitator, means for feeding the gasoline withimpurities` to the agitator, means for feeding a solid adsorbentmaterial to theagitator, means for regulating both feeding meansaccording to the amount of the mixture in the agitator, means forfeeding the mixture to a separator, and `means for separatin thegasoline'from the solid material and t e impurities.

9. A system of apparatus for, clarifying gasoline containing impuritieswhich comprises an agitator, means for fee-ding the A gasoline withimpurities to the agitator,

means for feeding a solid adsorbent material. to the agitator, means forsimultaneously and automatically re ulating both feeding meansaccordingto t e amount of mixture in the agitator, means :for feeding the "mixture to a centrifu al filter, and` means for leading the clarifiedgasoline from the filter,

10.. A system of apparatus for clarifying a cleaning fluid comprising anagitator, means for feeding the cleaning fluid with contained impuritlesto the agitator, means i' for feeding a solid material which is a goodadsorbent of the limpurities, to' the agitator, means for regulatingboth feedin means in accordance with the amount of t e mixtureycoagulating adsorbent agent; separating the adsorbent agent withadsorbed and coagulated impurities from the solvent by filtration; andreturning the solvent free from said adsorbing material and impuritiesin a substantiallycontinuous manner to the firstmentioned step of theprocess, unt-il the textile material has been cleaned to the desiredextent.

12. In dry-cleaning, the herein described lprocess which comprisessubjecting soiled textile material containing greas or oily material tothe action of a volati e organic solvent which is substantiallynon-miscible with water; drawing off the solvent with accumulatedimpurities; agit-ating the said solvent carryingimpurities with anadsorbent agent; automatically measuring the amount vof the adsorbentagent; se arating the adsorbent agent with adsorbe impurities from thesolvent by centrifugal filtration; and returning the solvent free fromsaid adsorbingsol material and impurities to the frstvmentioned step ofthe process, until the textile material has been cleaned to the desiredex'- tent. 'n

13. A 'system of apparatus comprising a ,washing machine, an agitator,aV separator,

ymeans for drawing off liquid from the wash ing machine, means forfeeding the said liquid in measured quantities to the agitator, meansfor feedin an adsorbent to t e a tator, meansfor feeding the mixture tot e separator, and means for feeding the purified liquid back to thewashing machine.

14. 'A process for the recuperation of dry I cleaning fluids whichcomprises mixing 4therewith a suitable agent for the 'coagulation of thecolloid impurities, agitating'the 1 mixture, and filtering the fluidfromthe co-A agulating agent and the coagulated impurities.

In testimony whereof, I subscribed: my name.`

JAMES fnFEN'roN.'

have hereunto-

